Parascender I

The Parascender I, originally just called the Parascender, is an American single-seat powered parachute that was designed and produced by Parascender Technologies of Kissimmee, Florida and introduced in 1989. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development
The Parascender I was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of 254 lb. The aircraft has a standard empty weight of 230 lb. It features a 440 sqft parachute-style wing, single-place accommodation, tricycle landing gear and a single 40 hp Rotax 447 engine in pusher configuration. The 50 hp Rotax 503 engine was a factory option, as was a 520 sqft canopy.

The aircraft carriage is built from bolted aluminium tubing, with a unique octagonal dual-tube propeller guard. Inflight steering is accomplished via foot pedals that actuate the canopy brakes, creating roll and yaw. On the ground the aircraft has left hand lever-controlled nosewheel steering. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension. The aircraft has a typical empty weight of 230 lb and a gross weight of 540 lb, giving a useful load of 310 lb. With full fuel of 5 u.s.gal the payload for the pilot and baggage is 280 lb.

The standard day, sea level, no wind, takeoff with a 40 hp engine is 100 ft and the landing roll is 50 ft.

The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit to be 20 hours.